


Missed Connection

by Viktoryus



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love at First Sight, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 15:12:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15821478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viktoryus/pseuds/Viktoryus
Summary: Emma Swan lives on her own and works three jobs to keep herself busy. She is single and confident that she will likely be perpetually single for the rest of her life, but she is oddly content with that. Her best friends however, want her to find that someone special and luckily (or not-so-lucky) for Emma, they are meddlesome enough to force her outside of her comfort zone.Regina Mills and her high school sweetheart have ended their relationship after twelve years and even though it does not make her bitter, she swears off relationships altogether. She has not been in the dating scene for so long that meeting strangers online just seems uninviting and messy to her. She believes creating new relationships should not have to feel so forced.So, what happens when two people meet in passing, generate a spark, but then never see each other again? How do you find that very specific needle in a very large heap of needles? Why, with the help of the internet, of course.





	Missed Connection

Emma Swan has not had any time off in months, and because she has been working nearly eighty hours every week between her three jobs, when her boss from the daytime office gig finally just pleads for her to take the day off, she actually does it. She does put up a fight at first, but her reluctance is eventually squashed by a reminder from the human resources department telling her that her unused vacation time will not be paid out, nor will it all be rolled over to the next year.

Without needing to have an alarm set to wake her, Emma sleeps in until nearly ten in the morning. And sleep is something she loves but rarely gets enough of, so even after she wakes, she lies in bed lazily. When she finally does pull herself up, it is because she is famished and she can no longer take the rumbling sounds coming from her stomach, so she goes straight into the kitchen for something to eat. The best and worst thing, she has learned, about barely spending any time at her apartment these days is that there is almost never anything to eat. She opens her refrigerator to find that the only thing inside is a carton of milk, probably still good, and two cups of yogurt that are surely past their best by date. She scrunches her face in dismay and sighs as she grabs the two small plastic containers and puts them into her sink, willing herself to remember to dump them out before she heads to the diner for her shift later that afternoon.

She sighs heavily again as she opens the door to her pantry, already expecting to be disappointed with what is inside. She finds just a few packages of instant noodles and a couple of cans of generic brand ravioli, having no appetite at all for either of them. _I should probably go to the store some time this week,_ she thinks _._ Still very hungry and now more than a little irritated, she turns away and walks into the living room where she immediately spots a bag of Chex mix on the coffee table, suddenly remembering that Ruby had brought snacks with her when they had an impromptu game night with some of the guys over the weekend. She smiles happily to herself as she relaxes and walks casually towards it.

She takes a seat on the old futon and it squeaks loudly under her weight. As she pulls out her cell phone from the pocket of her baggy sweatpants, she reaches for the family-sized bag of Chex mix and sits back trying to make herself as comfortable as she can on the thin pad that was once a comfortable futon mattress. She opens the web browser on her phone to see that it is still on the last webpage that she was reading on her lunch break the day before and she sniggers to herself. She refreshes the page before reaching into the bag to pull out a handful of the salty treat and putting it into her mouth. She scrolls through a few of the listings on the page until she finds a few that are listed in her area and clicks on one. As she reads, she reaches for more of her snack, crunching contently as her stomach finally starts to feel less angry at her for skipping dinner the night before.

Emma laughs hysterically at one particular posting she finds while she is skimming and quickly copies its entirety and pastes it into a text message so that she can send it to her best friend. Ruby’s reply comes instantaneously.

RUBY: _LOL Good morning to you too, Hon._

EMMA: _Can you believe the shit that some people put on the internet? You think that they believe that any of this will actually work?_

RUBY: _You tell me._ _You’re the one that is constantly going through that trash and reading it for fun. So, obviously, there are people that see them…_

EMMA: _Touché._ _I really should just stick to reading fanfiction on my phone on breaks, huh? At least that way, I get to read some happy endings._

RUBY: _HAHA you mean that you’re actually going through the Missed Connections page on Craigslist looking for happy endings? How cute. And very delusional of you._

EMMA: _Rubes,_ _I’m going through them because they are hilarious! But, you never know, I may find a posting from someone looking for the hot blonde that served them a cinnamon roll and a coffee at their favorite diner on the corner._

Emma inserts a wink emoji as well and sends it to Ruby. Then she laughs to herself at the absurdity of it. She has been single for a while now, with her last relationship ending nearly three years ago. She wants to find that someone special, but at this point, she finds that she is really enjoying her freedom and independence. A relationship hardly seems like it will be worth compromising that. Not to mention, having three jobs hardly leaves her any time at all for herself, let alone any time for dating.

RUBY: _LMAO. Yeah, I mean, you never know. You do look damned good in those rubber non-slips and your wrinkly button-up._

Emma shakes her head, finds a GIF of someone rolling their eyes and hits the send button.

RUBY: _LOL!_ _Hey, speaking of your sexy getup, you work tonight, right?_

EMMA: _Yeah. You? Are we closing together?_

RUBY: _Yep. Wanna go to Neptune after work?_

EMMA: _Have I told you that for a straight woman, you hang out at the gay club way too much? Lol._

RUBY: _Straight bars are so boring, Em. And plus, I get so many more free drinks at Neptune. The dancing is also always 100% better._

Emma shakes her head, rolls her eyes again, and types out her reply. _And all of those poor women that are buying the drinks leave there with blue balls because of you. You’re always such a tease. Anyway, I’ll have to see how I feel tonight. I do work early in the morning tomorrow, unlike you._

RUBY: _Just take another half day off!_ _C’mon, there’s a DJ tonight so there will be good dance music. It’ll be fun! And you might meet someone that will help you to clear off some of the cobwebs you have on your lady parts. LOL_

EMMA: _You are such an asshole! Not all of us are constantly looking to find someone to hook up with, Rubes._

RUBY: _Well, not all of us have been untouched for three years, either. YOU NEED TO GET LAID._

EMMA: _I don’t NEED anything right now but to be able to pay my bills. I’m swimming in student loan debt and girlfriends are stupid expensive._

RUBY: _I said get laid, Em. Not bring home a wife._

EMMA: _I’m going to ignore you and turn on the PS4 so I can get in a few levels before I have to be at the diner. BYE, RUBY._

RUBY: _Seriously, just think about it! Because you know that I’m right…_

Emma shakes her head again, locks her phone before she puts it down onto the coffee table, and turns the television on. Then she takes the Playstation controller from the charging dock and turns the console on as well. She scrolls through the main menu until she finds the game that she had started a few days ago, and as the beginning scene of the game starts up, she thinks about how much she truly enjoys finally having some time to herself, even if it is only for a few hours.

* * *

“Hey Killian. What’s up?” Emma says cheerfully into her phone as she walks steadily towards the diner from where she has parked her car, nearly three blocks away.

“Not much. Missed you today though.” Killian says with a cheeky smile. “How was your morning off?”

Emma chuckles. “It was short. I slept in, played some Arkham, watched a bit of SVU. You know, living the dream. Anything crazy happen at the office today that I need to know about?” Emma and Killian have been extremely close since high school and Killian had been working at his mother’s accounting firm for years before he finally convinced Emma to get out of the retail industry to work a regular “adult” job. It took a lot of convincing but Emma finally gave in when they told her she could just work part-time. She has been there a little over three years now and while it pays better than anything else she has ever done, to her, it is nothing but a boring desk job.

“Nah. You know, same shit, just a different day of the week.” Killian says with a shrug. “Hey, so, I’m headed to the gym now, but Ruby texted and said we’re going to Neptune tonight? You want me to just swing by and come pick you ladies up? I assume that both of you are getting ready at your place.”

Emma groans. “RUBY’S going to Neptune. I haven’t agreed to go with her. It’s Wednesday night, Killian. We have work tomorrow.”

Killian chuckles. “Wait a minute, are we in the Twilight Zone right now? Since when have we had to be the ones to convince YOU to go out? C’mon Em, don’t be so lame.”

“I told this to Ruby earlier and I’m gonna tell you the same thing. There is something very wrong with the fact that my two, very straight, best friends are always the ones that are wanting to go to the gay club.” Emma says with a heavy sigh.

“You know that’s not really the place that I’d prefer to go, but Ruby always insists.” Killian says defensively. In truth, just like Ruby, he wants more than anything for Emma to go out and meet more of the other eligible queer women in the city and this seems to be the best way to do it without getting her on one of those dating websites. But, secretly, he does actually love the atmosphere at Neptune, and is secure enough in his masculinity to admit that he enjoys the attention he receives from some of the gay men that frequent that bar. And, all of the straight women that have often times accompanied their gay friends.

“Uh huh.” Emma says as she rolls her eyes because she knows him much better than he thinks.

“Well, text me with whatever you ladies decide to do. You know that I’ll just be at home doing absolutely nothing anyway.” Killian finally says with a shrug.

“Yeah, I’ll see how I feel by the end of my shift.” Emma says. “I just got to the diner. Text you later, okay? Have a good workout, Killer!”

“Yeah. Thanks. Later.”

Emma ends the call and walks into the diner to see that the place is currently empty and Ruby is spraying down and cleaning the tables and booths. The owners are sitting at the large round table towards the back of the restaurant watching the news on the small television that they have sitting on the back counter. Arthur sees her first, and waves her over.

“Hey, Emma.” He says with a smile.

“Hey Art, hey Paulina. Business been good today?” Emma asks as she pulls out a chair at the table and sits down.

“No complaints." Art says. “I think that Ruby made out pretty well.”

“How was work at the office this morning, Emma?” Paulina asks.

“I actually took the morning off today. I have a bunch of time off that I need to start taking. They had to remind me that I’m not going to be able to roll any of it over. You know, use it or lose it.” Emma replies with a shrug.

“Wow. You? Taking time off? I’m shocked. What’s a workaholic like you even do with a few hours off?” Paulina asks with a smirk.

Emma chuckles. “Well, I’ll tell you what I didn’t do. I haven’t eaten anything except for Chex mix all day.” Then she turns towards her boss who also happens to man the kitchen. “Art, can you make me a grilled cheese please? And some fries?”

Paulina just shakes her head. She watches as her husband chuckles and gets up, already making his way towards the kitchen. “Honey, make her a salad, too, please. Otherwise, she will never get anything even semi-nutritious into this body of hers.” She shouts this at her husband, receiving a thumbs up from him in response. Then she turns back to Emma. “You need to take better care of yourself, young lady. You know we already think that you over-work yourself. But on top of that, you hardly ever eat right and you never get enough rest. You’re going to burn yourself out.”

Emma smiles. She met Paulina and Arthur Amari several years ago. It was back when she was still studying as an undergraduate student at the local university. At the time, she needed a second job desperately and by chance, when she was meeting a classmate at the diner to work on a project, she saw that they were hiring for servers. Without even a moment’s hesitation, she asked for an application and filled it out that same afternoon. And, the rest is history.

The Amaris have been such a blessing and they have seen her through so many things over the years. As Emma thinks back about how much of a mess she was back when they first met her, she realizes that they have had to put up with a lot of her drama and personal growing pains.

Her and Selene were still together then, and they were struggling to pay their bills because for most of their relationship, Emma was the only one working. Selene was the person she thought that she was going to spend her life with, but when they finally moved out into their own apartment, they would fight about money all the time. Emma is still bitter because she always worked so hard and yet she was never able to spend what she earned on anything that she wanted to just because she had to be responsible for both of their sakes. For two young women in their early twenties, living on their own was more difficult that they thought it would be. What always made things even more difficult was that the two of them could never control their expenses, spending more than she was bringing in and eventually, it drove Selene to end their relationship.

What Selene told Emma, was that their split was heavily based on her lack of ambition and motivation to do more with her life than work dead end jobs. She reasoned that she wanted more for them. Evidently, it was a problem that drove Selene not only into the arms, but also the beds of various other women throughout the four years they were together, but sure, it was very clear that it was ultimately Emma’s fault that things came crashing down in the end. Emma shakes herself from these resentful thoughts because she has tried too hard to not to think about any of it anymore.

If it were not for Arthur and Paulina, she would not have been able to pick herself back up after her very emotional breakup. That much, she knows for a fact. Emma reaches over and puts her hand over Paulina’s. “I know that you can’t help yourselves because you love me, but I don’t want you guys to worry about me, alright? I’ll be fine. And when I’m not, you can reprimand me for it. But, for now, thanks for making sure I get my veggies. That’s always much appreciated.” She adds with a big exaggerated grin just as Ruby pulls out a chair and sits at the round table as well.

Paulina reaches over and pinches Emma’s cheek playfully and smiles genuinely at her. “I’ll let you girls catch up. I’m going to go upstairs into the apartment. Come get me if the dinner rush is too much for you two to handle.”

“We will.” Emma smiles. Paulina does as well and then just nods at her before walking away.

“So…” Ruby says catching Emma’s attention as Paulina disappears behind a doorway in the corner of the diner. “We’re going clubbing tonight, right?” She says with a brilliant smile.

Emma chuckles and is about to shut her friend down again just as she hears the kitchen bell ding, indicating that her meal is ready. So instead, she hops up off of her chair and excitedly skips over to grab her food.

* * *

It is barely after ten when they arrive in the bustling Midtown area where Neptune is located. Killian finds a parking spot not too far away and as they walk towards the front door of the club, Emma loops her arm into his and grabs onto him tightly. He pulls his best friend into himself and laughs. “Em, you’re not going to pick up any ladies if they all think that you’re straight.”

“Or worse.” Ruby says as she furrows of her brow. “That you’ve brought your man with you.” She adds an exaggerated grimace just  to make sure she gets her point across.

Emma rolls her eyes. “You guys, I hardly even want to be here. I just want to grab a few drinks and dance a little bit. I’m not here to pick anyone up. Got it?” Emma says. She really hates the pick-up game, mostly because she knows that she is quite bad at it. Talking to random strangers has never been her forte, but attempting to talk to someone that she is even the slightest bit attracted to is only going to leave her feeling embarrassed and self-conscious, so she would really just rather not put herself through any of it at all. “And plus, how many times have we come here thinking that I would meet the girl of my dreams, or even that I would make some new friends, only to find that the single lesbian population in this city is practically non-existent? Let’s just have fun, okay? I’m out on a weeknight with my two best friends, and I kinda feel really great in this dress… So, can we just please enjoy the evening for what it is?” Emma pleads with her most convincing grin.

Killian smiles at Emma and turns to wrap his arms around her in a bear hug. “Alright. I like the sound of that. Let’s just get a few drinks in you and let you tear up the dance floor.”

“Fine...” Ruby agrees with a smile of her own. “But, first round is on Killian!” She adds with a hard smack to Killian’s back.

“Yeah, yeah. First round is always on me.” Killian says as he takes Emma’s arm once again, squeezes her hand, and leads them towards the front door.

They walk up to where the bouncer is standing, right outside the door, and he recognizes them right away. They chat with him for few seconds and then walk one after the other into the club. The place, though small, is still pretty empty and most of the tables all around them are still unoccupied. It is only just a bit before eleven which means that they should still be able to get their drinks without having to fight off any crowds of people up at the bar.

When Emma looks over, she spots that her favorite bartender is working and walks over to her. “Hey, Mandy!” She says as she lifts herself onto the bar counter and leans over to touch cheeks with the pretty brunette, who leans in casually just the same.

“Hey there, Beautiful. Haven’t seen you around in a long while.” Amanda says with a vibrant and toothy smile. She smiles and nods at Killian and Ruby as well before leaning up against the bar with a devilish grin. “So, what’s your poison tonight? Bourbon or Tequila?”

So, they order their drinks and while Amanda is making them, Emma catches her bartender friend up on a few very boring details of her life and what has been going on since the last time they saw each other. Killian leaves his credit card with Amanda and makes sure that she knows that all their drinks are going to be on him tonight. When Ruby hears this, she squeals with delight before wrapping her arms around Killian’s neck in a tight embrace. He smiles as he picks her up with the one arm he has wrapped around her, and spins her around easily.

Emma smiles as she watches the interaction between her two closest friends. She sometimes wonders why the two of them have yet to realize that they are actually really perfect for each other. Had they met under any other circumstances, like at a bar for example rather than through her, she is positive that they would already be dating. She has been meaning to bring it up to them, individually of course, just to feel them out, and mentally berates herself for continuously putting it off. But then, one of her favorite songs start playing and she pushes her matchmaking thoughts away. “Guys, let’s go dance!”

Ruby nods enthusiastically and clinks her glass against Emma’s with a nod, silently requesting that she take another drink. Then she does the same to Killian. They all take a large gulp before putting their glasses down on a table right at the edge of the large empty space in the middle of the club.

Emma takes Ruby’s hand and walks backwards onto the dance floor spinning her as soon as the tall, leggy brunette is close enough to her. Killian joins them and takes ahold of Emma’s waist from behind spinning her towards him. The three of them dance for a few songs and Emma cannot remember the last time she was able to let loose like this and actually have fun.

After dancing to a few songs, the three of them finally decide to go back to their table to finish off their drinks so that they can get another round before the lines at the bar get too long. One of the other bartenders is walking around with a tray of rainbow jello shots so Killian waves him over and buys each of them one of those as well. He grabs a blue one for Emma because he knows it is her favorite, but tells Ruby to pick the other two. They take the shots with little trouble even though a lot of the jello sticks to the plastic cup.

As they walk back to the bar for a second round, Emma grabs Killian’s arm to get his attention. The club is filling up now and the noise level in the place and risen significantly, so when Killian turns towards her, she pulls him in so that he can hear her clearly. “I’m gonna hit up the restroom really quickly. Will you order me another bourbon and soda?”

“Yeah, of course.” Killian yells and then he continues to follow Ruby to the bar area while Emma heads in the opposite direction.

Emma walks into the tiny restroom, her least favorite part of this particular establishment, and squeezes her way into one of the empty stalls. Once she is finished, she has to once again maneuver her way out, this time with a bit more difficulty because there is someone waiting just on the other side of the stall door. They exchange polite smiles and Emma is able to make her way over to the other end of the narrow space only to find that there is already someone standing by where the one and only sink is. The woman is cleaning something off of her sweater and seems irritated, quieting mumbling to herself. When she turns to see that Emma is waiting for the sink, she tries to move out of her way.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She chuckles softly more to herself that towards Emma. “I seem to be wearing someone else’s very fruity drink, but here, let me get out of your way.” The woman says politely. She tosses the paper towel she is using before quickly grabbing another one, wetting it, and then switching places with Emma, inevitably rubbing up against her to get to some empty spot in the very tight space.

Emma is caught off guard by how absolutely stunning the woman is and smiles shyly in her direction before she moves awkwardly towards the corner where the sink is located. While she washes her hands, she takes a few casual glances at the woman from the corner of her eye. The woman is still dabbing at her sweater with the wet paper towel and when Emma hears someone flush the toilet, it rouses her from her staring. She finishes up and dries her hands before she squeezes past both of the women again and makes her way out of the restroom.

Killian sees her first and raises his hand to grab her attention. When she approaches them, he smiles. “We thought you fell in. What took you so long?”

Emma shakes her head. “I hate that restroom. They really need to do something about it. It’s so hard to move around in there.” Emma says as she turns back towards the direction of the area in question, hoping to see the beautiful woman again.

Ruby raises an eyebrow curiously as she follows Emma’s line of sight to the restroom door. “Are you looking for someone, Babe?” Just as she says this, the door opens and the woman in the sweater steps out. She watches as Emma gaze follows the woman, watching her as she takes a seat at the bar and Ruby smiles to herself mischievously. She nudges Killian lightly, and once she has his attention again, she motions towards the bar and where the pretty brunette is sitting. He looks at the woman and then back at Ruby. She nods her head towards Emma who has not noticed either of them at all since the woman walked out of the restroom, and they smile at each other knowingly.

Killian finally speaks up. “She’s hot, Em. You should go talk to her.”

Emma’s eyes widen in surprise. “What? Who’s hot?” She says trying to act as casual as possible.

Ruby steps in. “The chick that you can’t stop staring at.”

Emma looks over at the woman again who is now laughing at something that Amanda has just said and she feels her pulse quicken. “She’s… uh… she’s probably straight.” She finally says.

“You can still talk to her. Even if she is straight, she probably expects people to come up to her. I mean, she’s drinking in a gay bar. You better get to her before someone else does.” Killian tries to reason.

Emma stares for a moment longer but then shakes her head. “Let’s just go dance.” She turns and walks towards the dance floor hoping that her friends are following.

Ruby sighs and Killian shrugs before they turn away from the bar as well and follow Emma to the other side of Neptune, back towards where the music is now louder than it was before. When they get back onto the dance floor, Ruby watches as Emma squeezes her way through the crowd, passing a few group of guys to a more open spot near where the giant speakers are sitting. So, she reaches for Killian’s hand and takes it, leading him through the crowd to get to where Emma is.

Emma takes another sip of her drink and places it on a small ledge that is right above the speaker. She takes a quick glance towards the bar again and is grateful that she can no longer see where the beautiful woman is sitting because it would certainly be tempting to just stand there and stare but she would really hate to get caught doing it.She smiles widely when Ruby and Killian both make it over to where she is and immediately starts swaying to the music. They dance to a few more songs as the dance floor slowly gets filled with more and more people.

Ruby is dancing with Killian, her arms around his neck and his hands holding onto her waist, when she looks up and to their right and she sees the brunette from the bar walking onto the dance floor. She is walking in their direction, being lead by another woman wearing a backwards baseball cap and a oversized basketball jersey. Ruby raises an eyebrow instinctively and watches curiously as the pair finds an empty spot and starts dancing. Their dancing seems a bit forced and the pretty lady seems mostly uninterested so Ruby deduces that it is a definite possibility that they just met.  

When Killian sees the odd look on Ruby’s face, he turns to see what has her so bewildered. When he sees who it is that she is looking at, he turns back to her and smiles with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Ruby pulls him closer. “I have an idea.” She says into his ear hoping Emma does not get suspicious.

Emma is taking a drink from her glass when she senses someone looking at her. When she looks up and sees both Killian and Ruby smiling at her, she smiles easily back at them before walking up to her two friends. “You guys look cozy!” She shouts with a grin.

Ruby smirks at her and releases her hold on Killian. She turns towards Emma, gets as close as she can, and starts moving her body up against her friend, dancing seductively. Then she turns Emma so that she is facing Killian and she winks at him from behind the blonde, cueing for him to keep Emma distracted for as long as he can. Killian does so as discreetly as he can, but Emma catches on quite quickly.

Emma turns around when she realizes that Ruby has walked away, and her eyes widen in surprise when she sees that Ruby is pushing her way through the crowd, and straight up to the woman that was in the restroom. All she can see is that Ruby is speaking with the brunette when suddenly the beautiful woman is looking up and right at her. Emma breaks the eye contact immediately and turns back towards Killian again to see him smirking at her and she glares daggers at him before she squeezes her eyes shut. Her heart starts racing to the point where the blood pumping in her ears is louder than the bass coming from the speaker right next to them. Just as she is able to even her breaths, she feels someone’s hand on her waist from behind. She turns to see Ruby with a huge smile on her face and the woman in the sweater standing beside her. When their eyes meet, the intensity of the woman’s stare makes Emma’s face heat up.

Ruby turns towards the woman and smiles. “This is the friend I was just telling you about. She would really love to dance with you!” Then she grabs Emma by one of her wrists and pulls so that they can switch places on the dance floor..

Emma stares at Ruby not knowing whether to hug or strangle her best friend. When she turns to see the woman studying her curiously, she just smiles shyly and waves a few of her fingers. The woman smirks at her gesture and she feels like her knees could buckle on her any second. She starts awkwardly swaying to the music, slowly moving closer to the brunette and that is when the other woman steps in even closer to her, and reaches up to place her hands onto Emma’s shoulders. Emma reaches in and wraps one of her arms around, placing it on the woman’s lower back and pulling her in tightly.

They dance this way for a while and when the song changes, the woman releases her hold from around Emma’s shoulders and turns her body so that her back is right up against Emma’s chest. Then she reaches for Emma’s hand and wraps it around her midsection prompting for Emma to pull her in even closer. As she starts grinding herself into the beautiful blonde, she feels the woman tense up. It takes a couple of seconds but when she feels the woman relax into her back she smiles to herself.

Emma is absolutely mesmerized by the beautiful stranger. She has both hands on her waist now, following each and every movement of her hips as she moves with the rhythm of the song. The scent of her perfume makes Emma dizzy and when the brunette leans further back, pressing herself even closer, Emma thinks that they could do this dance all night long. Emma does not even notice when the song is over until the woman turns slowly back around so that they are facing one another again.

The woman smiles again before leaning in towards her. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’m meeting some friends down the street at another bar, and I’m already running late. But, thanks for the dance, Beautiful.” She says with a smirk.

Before Emma can even reply, the woman is already clear across the dance floor, walking towards the front door. Emma stands there for a few seconds, completely baffled, and when she shakes herself out of her daze, and is able to focus her attention back to her friends again, she sees both Ruby and Killian looking at her with their goofiest grins.

* * *

Ruby and Killian both ask Emma about the mystery woman almost as soon as she walks away but they learn that not only did she not speak very much to the lovely brunette, but Emma did not even ask for her name.

On their way home from Neptune, Ruby remembers their conversation the other morning and immediately suggests that Emma make a post on the Missed Connections message board on Craigslist.

“Rubes, that’s absurd! Stop looking at me like that. It’s fucking creepy.” Emma says as she turns her face away so that she can look out the window.

“You should just do it.” Ruby says, reiterating her previous plea. Her eyes are still glued onto Emma and she knows that her friend is watching her from the corner of her eye.

Emma turns back towards Ruby after moments of silence. “What?! I am not going to post on that ridiculous website.” Emma argues as she folds her arms stubbornly across her chest.

“But, why not? You read from that ridiculous website all the time! What if she sees it?” Ruby pushes. “Em, even if she doesn’t, why are you being this way right now? You should just try it.”

Emma sighs. “She won’t see it. So, can we just drop it?”

Ruby frowns. Almost immediately after the woman scurried away from them and from the dance floor, Emma became increasingly irritable. Within the next half hour, Emma was ready for them to leave and go home. Seeing that they promised that they would leave whenever she was ready, they could not argue with her, so Killian closed out their tab and the three them made their way back to Killian’s Jeep. But, Ruby is done being quiet about this. “No. Actually, I don’t want to just drop it. I think that you should just make a quick post. If you don’t think you will ever see her again, and you don’t believe in fate anyway, then why the hell would it matter if you post it or not?”

Emma groans as she gets more angry. “Oh my god, Ruby! Because it’s a stupid website! I read it for entertainment and I’m sure the rest of the world does as well. And did you see her? Did she look like someone that would read Craigslists ads for fun!?”

Killian jumps in hoping to calm his two friends. “Hey, you two. Stop it. It’s not something even worth hurting each other’s feelings over. Ruby, stop pestering Emma.” Killian looks up at the rearview mirror to find Emma staring back at him. “And Ems, we just want you to be happy. Do whatever it is that will get you there, alright?” The he glares quickly over at Ruby and catches her eyes. He pleads silently for her to let it go until she finally just turns around in a huff and stares out in front of her.

They sit in silence for most of the trip back to Emma’s apartment but Emma eventually speaks up again. “Hey… Rubes. I’m sorry.”

Ruby turns to Emma and smiles sadly. “Yeah. Me, too. Sorry that I was all up in your business earlier. It’s not my place. And Killy’s right, whatever makes you happy makes us happy. We love you.”

Emma smiles sadly, too. “I know. I love you guys, too. I’m sorry that I got so defensive. It’s just, she was out of my league, you know?”

“Whoa there. Wait just one minute.” Killian says. “I said I’d stay out of this but Ems, you gotta know, there is no one on this planet that is out of your league. I mean, you thought that Selene was out of your league and that was hardly ever the case.”

Emma just shrugs. “But, she was. That’s why it didn’t work out between us.”

Killian grits his teeth and all but growls at Emma’s statement. “It didn’t work out between you two because she is a slutbag who couldn’t keep her legs closed.”

Ruby laughs and claps her hands together excitedly. “Wow, Killian. I’m shocked. I didn’t know that you had it in you, my man.” She says as she punches him playfully in his upper arm eliciting a smile from him. “But you know he’s right, Ems. Selene was never out of your league. She just wasn’t really worth your time in the end. You did everything for that girl but everything was never enough for her. Nobody here thinks that she was too good for you. In fact, the only person in the world that thinks Selene is too good for you, is Selene.”

This makes Emma smile, but she shakes her head nonetheless. “You two are my best friends and you’re obviously biased. And I couldn’t care less about Selene right now, but we’re talking about the woman at the bar. She is clearly unattainable. And she definitely does not look like someone who would have to peruse through the classifieds to find a date.”

“We should have asked Mandy who she was. I’ll bet she knows. They were talking when she was sitting at the bar.” Killian suggests when he remembers seeing the two of them interacting when she had first appeared and grabbed Emma’s attention.

“I didn’t even think about that.” Emma says, but with very little enthusiasm. “I could text her tomorrow and check but I don’t even know what I would ask.” She continues a half serious tone. “‘Hey Mandy, are you familiar with the woman that sat up at the bar for five, maybe ten minutes last night? She was wearing a dark sweater, looked like heaven, and she had a drink spilled on her.’ I mean, c’mon guys, how dumb does that even sound?”

Ruby chuckles at Emma’s impression of the more pathetic version of herself. “How do you even know she had a drink spilled on her?”

“Oh, well, when I first ran into her in the restroom, she told me. She was in there cleaning something off of her sweater.” Emma says as she tries hard to keep the happy grin from forming on her face. Just thinking about the woman apparently makes her heart skip.

“I mean, honestly Em, you never know until you try it. Text Mandy tonight. Or tomorrow morning. It won’t hurt to try, right?” Ruby says all of this solely to reassure Emma but she already has something else in mind. If Emma refuses to make a post on Missed Connections, she will just have to do it for her. Emma just rattled off in a few seconds an extremely well-thought out description of the woman without even knowing it and Ruby plans to take advantage of it.

Emma sighs and just stares back at Ruby. All of this just seems so silly. All she wanted to do was go home after work tonight and go to sleep. Not only did she let Killian and Ruby talk her into going out when she wanted to stay home, but now she is in a heap of trouble because she knows that she will not be able to stop thinking about the beautiful woman she danced with until she sees her again. _This is just fucking great_ , she thinks. “Yeah.” She replies at last. “I guess it won’t hurt to try.”

* * *

 

“Why didn’t you just tell us when you arrived last night that you met someone at Neptune? We could have all gone there to meet you instead! Or at the very least gone back there with you after our first round of drinks!” Kathryn exclaims. She is so frustrated with her best friend’s lack of enthusiasm. Everyone would have been so more than happy to hear that Regina is out and meeting new people.

Regina looks away from her salad for a moment and up at her friend to see the other woman is still staring at her in disbelief. “Kat, I didn’t _meet_ anyone. All we did was dance together. Actually, I was very grateful that her friend approached me when she did. There was another woman who actually bought me a drink while I was sitting at the bar by myself. She was very persistent and asked me to dance while we were chatting and I didn’t really know how to decline.” She lowers her gaze towards her lunch once again wishing that she would have kept everything to herself. Having to explain her actions and decisions to Kathryn is always excruciatingly irritating.

Kathryn scoffs. “Please. You didn’t know how to decline? Since when does Regina Mills ever feel guilty for telling someone to fuck off?” She asks with a wide grin.

Regina laughs and nods at this. “Well, to be honest, she didn’t really look like the type of woman that I really should piss off. Luckily, I think she could sense how uncomfortable I was when we were on the dance floor together, so when the leggy brunette came over to ask me to dance with her friend, she graciously sent me on my way.”

Kathryn smiles to herself this time as she reaches for her glass of water. She had asked Regina to meet her and some friends at a restaurant in Midtown last night so that they could broach the idea of Regina dating again. It was not until just moments ago, when they sat down for lunch together that Regina even mentions to her that she stopped by the local gay bar before meeting up with the rest of their group. That came as a surprise because Regina has not shown any interest in a new relationship and has verbally confirmed that she would not likely find her soulmate in a bar or club.  

She thinks about how It has been over a year since Regina ended things with her highschool sweetheart. Kat has known both of them since high school and when Regina confided in her that she realized both her and Danielle felt more obligated to make things work between them for the sake of their friends and families than they did because of how they felt for each other, it was Kat that helped her to let it all go. It was a difficult conversation for Regina to have, and their relationship ended amicably. But shortly after their split, Danielle moved on and is not only in a very happy relationship, she is now happily engaged to the new woman in her life. And Regina has barely entertained the idea of even going on dates with anyone.

“Alright, so you danced with the pretty woman and I’m sure it was a very intimate dance...” Kat begins and when Regina tries to argue, she quickly puts her hand up, stopping her friend before she can get a word in. “Don’t even start. I know how you like to get your groove on, lady. I’ve known you almost all my life.”

Regina rolls her eyes. “Fine. Go on...”

“So, did you get a name? A phone number? Will you see each other again?” Kat asks, hoping that Regina might have more details for her from what seems to be an encounter that ended much too soon.

Regina looks up at her friend again and squints her eyes at the woman. “Wait. When did I tell you that she was pretty?” Regina asks. She tries to picture the woman again and smiles slyly when she remembers her piercing eyes and timid smile.

“Uh… that was the first thing you said about her. Actually, what you said to me was, ‘I was at Neptune before I got to the restaurant last night, someone spilled their fruity drink all over my new sweater, and I danced with a very exquisite blonde woman.’” Kathryn tries to imitate her best friend’s tone in a mocking but playful way. “Who even uses the word “exquisite” when describing people? You’re so ridiculous sometimes.” She adds finally.

Regina rolls her eyes. “Alright, I’ll admit, probably not the best way to describe the encounter. But, I do have to say, she was really quite beautiful. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen her in Neptune before, not that I’m there very often.” She only very recently started exploring the queer scene and considers herself lucky that she spent so long in a committed relationship. It is too difficult to meet people at bars and she finds that all of the connections that she has made are superficial at best.

“Mhmm.” Kat hums audibly as an amused grin forms on her face. “So? What’s her name?”

Regina frowns but then starts picking at her salad once again. “I didn’t ask for it. Actually, I saw that I was going to be late so I ran out of there, and then straight to where you ladies were already waiting for me. In fact, I barely said anything to her at all.”

“UGH. ‘Gina. Are you kidding me?” Kathryn says as she too turns her attention to the plate in front of her, poking angrily at the pieces of lettuce with her fork.

“Kat, it’s not like she asked for my name either. It was just a fluke that we ended up in the same place, the same time, and we danced with each other. Not everything that happens by chance is serendipitous.” Regina reasons as she takes another bite of her lunch.

“I’m not saying that it is. I was just hoping that you’d at least try to make something good come out of a situation that will probably never happen again. I mean, Dani is getting married in a few months. And you… you’re not even dating casually. Who are you going to bring to the wedding? You can’t go without a date.”

Regina looks up again and this time, she puts down her utensils. She calmly finishes her bite and takes a drink of water. Kathryn is right. Danielle _is_ getting married in a few months. She had even asked Regina to be in her bridal party. Regina did consider it for a moment, but declined eventually, only because she felt it was the right thing to do for Danielle’s wife-to-be. Undoubtedly, it is an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved, but likely the most painful for her ex’s bride.

“Kat, I was in a relationship for twelve years. I don’t want to casually date. And I wouldn’t even know how to.” Regina says at last. “It isn’t as easy as it was before, not that I would really know anyway. Have I already mentioned that my last relationship was twelve years long?”

“Hey…” Kathryn says as she reaches over and puts her hand out onto the table. Regina instinctively takes it and squeezes it. “Regina, believe me. I know. I was there for every good and terrible moment of it. But, really, meeting people is _so much_ easier than it was before! We have the internet, for goodness sakes! It won’t kill you to just give it a try.”

Regina chuckles and pulls her hand away once again. “Yes, believe me, I know. And no thank you. If finding my soulmate just consists of swiping right and left based on initial attraction of a well-taken or probably doctored photo, or meeting strangers that lie about how tall they are or what books they’ve read, then I think that I’ll take my chances at becoming the old maid that all of you believe me to be.”

Kathryn frowns dramatically. “I never said that I think you’re becoming an old maid. I just see that Dani is so happy and I want that for you. We all want that for you. Including Dani.”

Regina smiles at her friend. “I know. So do I. I just don’t want it to feel forced. Come what may, Kat.” She shrugs and then takes the break in their conversation as a chance to change the subject. “So, have you decided if you are going to take the kids to the fair next weekend?”

* * *

It has been a little over a week since the night Emma, Ruby, and Killian went out for a night of dancing at Neptune. During their entire way home, Emma considers texting Mandy and asking about the woman she danced with, just as Ruby had suggested, but in the end she decides that it would be best for her to let it go.  She is almost sure that if they were meant to see each other again, it will happen without her forcing it to.

Emma finishes her lunch, piles the trash up onto her plate, and pushes it aside for a moment as she reaches for her phone. She scrolls through some new Instagram and Twitter posts and when she is finished catching on social media, she opens up her internet browser for her daily dose of the Craigslist Missed Connections. A few days ago, she filtered the search option to the midtown area around where Neptune is located just to see if there were any posts from the night she was there with her friends. Secretly, or maybe not so secretly, she wished that there were. But so far, she has had no such luck.

She reads a couple of posts, one about an encounter by the restroom of a gas station and another about a girl singing exuberantly to a tune while at a stoplight in her black Honda Civic. Emma smiles to herself at that post because she, too, drives a black Civic and loves to sing with the windows rolled down. The location and time of day that is described in the post makes it quite evident that she is not the one being sought after, so she goes back to her search results and continues to scroll down. She does so almost too quickly and nearly misses the subject line of one post that clearly states the words “Neptune Bar”. Her eyes widen and pulse quickens as she scrolls slowly back up the page, stopping on the words.

 _I danced with a beautiful stranger at Neptune Bar…_ Emma reads the teaser part of the description to herself as her mouth suddenly goes dry. _Can this be real? Did the woman at the bar actually post on Missed Connections about me? There’s no way in hell._ She takes a deep breath and wonders if she should click on the link to open and read the rest of the post. She turns towards the office area where she can see Killian sitting at his computer, analyzing one of the spreadsheets that he has cleverly put together. She wants to call him over, but at the same time, does not want to risk her best friend teasing her for getting overly excited about something that may only be a silly coincidence. _I should probably read it first and if it’s any good, I can show Killian later._

After another moment of contemplation, she finally convinces herself to do it. She shuts her eyes tightly and takes another deep breath. When she opens her eyes again and sees those same words on the webpage staring back at her, she taps the screen of her phone and clicks the link.

This particular post is not very long, yet longer than a lot of the others, and to Emma’s relief, there are no blatantly noticeable grammar errors because that would be a deal-breaker for sure.

_“We danced together at Neptune two Wednesdays ago, and I probably should’ve, but never asked for your name. I have never done anything like this before, and I can't say that I really expect that it will even work in my favor because in reality, who actually reads these Craigslist classified ads anyway, right? But, I must be honest and tell you that I very much enjoyed dancing with you and I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t at least give this a try.”_

Emma is stunned for a moment and when she shakes herself of the shock, an uncontrollable smile spreads slowly across her face. She tucks a few strands of hair that have fallen to the side of her face back behind her ear before she continues to read the rest of the post.

_“I am not sure if you have any interest in meeting me at all, but I would really like to see you again nevertheless. If you remember me and our dance (which was too short), please reply to this message. I am the blonde that was in a dark dress, and the first time we saw each other that night was actually when you were in the restroom cleaning a spill off of your sweater.”_

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Emma says loudly, suddenly forgetting that she is still at work, surrounded by an entire office full of accountants and auditors. She turns to see Killian studying her with a surprised look on his face. Her expression must have been enough to pique his interest because he gets up and walks towards her. She turns quickly back to her phone and reads the last part of the post again. _I am the blonde in the dark dress, and the first time we saw each other that night was actually when you were in the restroom cleaning a spill off of your sweater._ “Oh my god, I’m going to kill Ruby.” Emma mutters to herself.

“Hey…” Killian says as he takes the seat next to Emma at the breakroom table. “What’s going on?” He asks.

“What’s going on?!” Emma repeats incredulously. “This is what’s going on.” She says as she spins her phone around on the table pushing it towards her best friend.

Killian furrows his brow for a second before reaching for Emma’s phone and looking down at the lit screen. His expression begins as one of confusion, but then changes to one of delight as he continues to read. That is until he reaches the part of the post that makes his eyes go wide with shock. He looks up at Emma and smiles widely. “You did it! Good for you, Em.” He says at last.

“What? I didn’t though. I didn’t write that.” Emma says shaking her head still upset but now also both anxious and nervous at the same time.

Killian frowns and blinks a few times before the same conclusions come to him as well. “Oh, shit. Ruby…”

“Yeah. Ruby.” Emma says as she licks her dry lips and sighs. “I’m going to kill her. She’s lucky that no one reads these stupid things but me...”

Killian smiles and reaches over the table to pat Emma lightly on the shoulder. “You never know, Em. She might see it. And I’ll bet that more people read these than you think.”

“Well, for Ruby’s sake, I hope that you’re wrong, because this is so embarrassing.” Emma says dryly before pushing her chair out, grabbing her plate and walking it over to the the sink. Then she turns back to Killian who is still watching her. “UGH. Why does she have to be such a pill?” She finally says, the anger in her tone dissipating.

Killian just chuckles before getting up as well and walking with Emma back to their respective cubicles. “You know that she only did it because she loves you.” He adds as he gives her shoulders another loving squeeze. “She means well.”

Emma knows this of course, but that does little to calm her nerves. She is not sure whether or not she wants to smack Ruby or give her the biggest hug, but she hopes that she decides which one it is going to be before she goes into diner for her shift later tonight.

* * *

Regina places her glass of wine onto the kitchen counter and walks towards her front door when she hears the sound of the doorbell. Kathryn had called her just minutes ago, told her she was on her way over with something she found on the internet that was incredibly shocking but very interesting, and just abruptly ended their phone conversation without so much as a clue to what she had discovered.

Regina opens the door to see her best friend standing on the other side of the entryway with the most mischievous grin on her face. She rolls her eyes before moving to the side to give the cheeky woman some room to walk through the entrance to her home. “How are you so sure that I even want to see what you’ve found.”

Kathryn chuckles loudly. “Oh, believe me. You’re going to want to see this.” Without another regard of her friend, Kathryn walks straight into Regina’s kitchen and grabs a glass from where she knows they are kept and places it onto the counter next to where Regina has set her glass of wine down. She takes the already open bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and pours herself a glass before swirling it around and taking a sip. “Mmm. This one is delicious.” She says as she take the bottle once again to examine the label and vintage.

Regina shakes her head with a smile and picks up her own glass as well. “So…” She urges. “Were you going to tell me what you’ve found, or are you going to drag it out all evening long?"

Kathryn takes another sip of her wine and smiles again. “Oh yeah. But first, I need you to promise me that you aren’t going to freak out.”

Regina eyes the blonde curiously. “What is it that you’ve found that would make you believe it could possibly warrant that kind of reaction from me?”

“I mean, Regina, you have to admit that you lose your shit sometimes. And even though this isn’t anything huge, I’d thought that I’d put it out there anyway.” Kathryn shrugs, the playful smile still plastered to her face.

She takes another sip of wine as she thinks about what she had randomly stumbled upon while she was parked in front of the school waiting to pick the kids up. Normally, she is not one to use a listings website like Craigslist, let alone pull the webpage up on her phone’s browser, but it just so happened that one of the hosts of the radio show she loved listening to mentioned the hilarity of its use for dating, and the conversation was so intriguing to her that she felt compelled to pull out her phone to see for herself. A happenstance that she now believes was fated to take place.

While waiting in her idling car, she scrolled through a few of the posts and as the final bell rang indicating that her children would be on their way out to her, she saw the subject line of a particular post that immediately caught her attention. She clicked the link quickly and skimmed through it until she got to the end and that is when she knew for a fact that she would have to tell Regina about it.

“Hello!? Kathryn!” Regina shouts, causing her friend to jump. “Are you going to tell me what is going on, or what?” She asks as she is beginning to lose her patience.

Kathryn finishes off her glass of wine in one gulp and nods. “Okay, okay. I’ll show you, geez. She reaches into her purse and pulls out her phone. She taps on the browser to pull up the post. She did make sure to bookmark it earlier for easy access and when the page loads, she looks it over once more before smiling and handing Regina the phone.

Regina takes it and begins reading what she sees on the page. It takes less than a few seconds before she can feel her face getting warmer. She looks up at Kathryn who can obviously tell that she has not read the entire thing.

“Keep reading. I know what you’re thinking and you have to read to the end to know.” Kathryn says.

Regina does as she is told and reads the post in its entirety. She even repeats the last line in her mind a few times to be sure that she is reading it correctly. _I am the blonde in the dark dress, and the first time we saw each other that night was actually when you were in the restroom cleaning a spill off of your sweater. Oh. My. God._ Regina looks up at Kathryn again, and this time her eyes are wide with terror. “What is this? Where did you find it?” She asks, her voice raspy from how dry her mouth is all of a sudden.

“It’s crazy, right? It’s like a classified ad but not really?” Kathryn tries to explain.

Regina puts the phone down onto the counter a little too harshly causing it to make a loud smack. “Kat, this doesn’t make any sense. She posted about meeting me and not asking for my name? This is lunacy! Why would anyone do that?” Regina asks.

“Okay, you promised you wouldn’t freak out--”

“I did no such thing!” Regina interrupts. “And even though the woman I danced with did not seem like she was one of the crazy ones, this definitely confirms that she’s not exactly sane either. And you wonder why I haven’t tried to meet more people at bars? This is why, Kat! Women are crazy. God, I need more wine…” Regina trails off as she reaches for the bottle and fills up her glass.

Kathryn sighs. “Regina, would you calm down just a minute, please? Christ, lady! Firstly, it’s not really a classified ad. It’s some board or a forum of some sort for missed connections that you can post on Craigslist--”

“THIS IS CRAIGSLIST?! Oh, this just keeps on getting better!” Regina says throwing her free arm up in exasperation but still grasping on tightly to her glass of wine which has evidently turned into her lifeline this evening.

“Will you please stop cutting me off and let me finish my thought?” Kathryn asks in frustration as she glares at her friend. She has known Regina since they were in high school together and she knows that the exact look to give her friend when she wants to be heard.

“Fine.” Regina says in a huff. Then she pulls her glass up to her lips, willing herself not to speak anymore until her Kathryn has finished.

“I was going to say…” Kathryn hesitates for a moment because she already knows what Regina’s reaction to her comment will be, and she needs to give herself a moment so have her justification ready. “I think that it is kinda romantic. I think you should reply to her message.”

Regina rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Kat, how is making an internet post about a stranger that you know nothing about romantic? And to be honest, the last thing I want is for her, or anyone, to think that I’m the kind of woman that has to comb through Craigslist for a date.”

“So, just tell her that I was the one that brought it to your attention.” Kathryn says with a heavy sigh before she continues with her plea. “Here’s the thing, Honey. There’s no way in hell that I would have ever gone on that website myself either! But, Fred called today and told me he had to work late, which was unexpectedly for both of us, which also meant that I had after-school duty. Because of all of that, it put me in the car with the radio on at the precise time the deejay was talking about this silly Missed Connections page. The guy mentioned how funny some of the posts were. I was waiting for the kids anyway, so I looked it up and I saw this post right as the school bell rang.”

“Kat, what is it that you’re trying to say, exactly?” Regina asks impatiently.

“I’m saying that somehow, I feel like all of this was meant to be. It’s a sign, Regina. What are the chances of all these things aligning themselves the way that they did? All on a day that I would normally already be at Bikram. Hmm? Kathryn asks.

Regina considers this for a moment. “Kat, this is completely mental, you have to know that, right?” She says but wonders to herself if she even believes that it is as ridiculous as it all sounds.

“Yeah, it might be. But it also might be worth a bit of investigation, right?” Kathryn asks. Regina is still staring down into her glass, clearly contemplating what she should do, so she decides to push the topic a little bit more. “I guess the most important question is whether or not you think the woman you danced with at Neptune is even worth your time getting to know her better? Because if she’s not, then it really doesn’t matter how mental this whole thing really is...”

Regina takes a another moment to think about that night at Neptune. She remembers that the blonde woman was pretty and a bit timid. She seemed courteous enough and was very careful not to overstep any personal boundaries without her consent as they were dancing. And she remembers very clearly that she tested that with some very intimate movements, all of which made the woman squirm a little at first but ease into her within seconds. But, the one thing she knew would be burned into her memory for a long time is how beautiful the woman was when she smiled, with her light colored eyes sparkling as she did so. “I… I mean, sure she is…” Regina says finally, feeling defeated but also bit excited at the prospect of seeing the blonde again.

Regina’s admission makes Kathryn smile widely. “Then just reply to the message, Hon.”

* * *

Emma pulls the door to the diner open with more force than usual due to all the pent up anxiousness from reading all about the account of her evening at the bar on the internet. She is determined to make Ruby feel as horrible as possible about making a fool out of her but that thought is pushed to the back of her mind when her senses are instantly hit with the scent of Paulina’s famous homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup. Emma’s stomach grumbles at the smell of the spices even though she had already eaten right before heading to the diner.

Ruby is cleaning off some tables in the back when she hears the bell on the door and turns to greet the new guests with a smile on her face. When she sees that it is Emma, her grin broadens and she squeals. “EMMA! Oh my god. I have something to tell you!”

“Yes. Yes, you do. And actually, quite a bit of explaining to do also.” Emma says, her tone flat. Without another glance at Ruby, she pulls a chair from the round table they usually sit at in the back and sits down.

Ruby frowns at Emma’s tone but quickly makes her way around her friend and puts the cleaning solution and paper towels away behind the cashier’s counter. Then she cautiously walks back over to where Emma is sitting and sits down as well. “So…” She starts but does not get to continue what she is going to say before Emma is already interrupting her.

“So, what made you think that it was cool to post about my life on Craigslist without so much as a word to me about it first?” Emma asks impatiently.

Ruby’s eyes go wide and she opens her mouth to speak. When she cannot seem to find the right way to rationalize her behavior, she closes her mouth again and sighs. She just frowns instead, and eventually, an apology is what comes out. “I’m sorry, Em… But, she--”

“You’re damn right, you’re sorry! Do you know how embarrassing that is for me? And not to mention that you really got my hopes up about the whole thing. I read the first paragraph of the post and thought that it was her looking for me!” Emma says and she tries her best to keep her voice down. The diner is empty but the last thing she wants is for Paulina or Art to hear them arguing and start asking questions that she would not know how to answer.

“I wanted to help.” Ruby starts again, wanting to at least calm Emma down a bit before she tells her what she has been so excited about all afternoon. “I thought that--”

“But, it doesn’t help me, Rubes. I mean, not really. She’s not even going to see it.” Emma says, cutting Ruby off once again.

“Well, that’s not entirely true though!” Ruby argues back.

“You can’t possibly know that! And now I just look like another one of these crazy lesbians out here who can’t help but make desperate posts on Craigslist because of one stupid dance!” Emma raises her voice in frustration this time, and she knows that they have gotten the owners’ attention because the next thing she hears is the door to the kitchen swing open.

“What are you two shouting about out here?” Paulina asks. “Are you two fighting about something silly again?”

Ruby speaks up before Emma can. “No, P. We aren’t fighting. Emma had a rough day at work today and she was telling me about it. Nothing to worry about.” She gives Paulina a reassuring smile which Paulina returns with ease. Then she turns and looks over at Emma briefly to see a look of relief on her friend’s face as well.

“Well, come in here and grab some soup before it starts getting too busy. It’s a fresh batch and it’s probably one of my best.” Paulina says casually and then turns and goes back into the kitchen before either of the girls responds to her. She knows that Ruby just said what she did to appease her, and she has learned to just let the two of them work out their differences. They are practically like sisters with how close they are and there is no reason for her to intervene. Most of the time, making her presence known has been enough to start them talking more calmly to each other. But, she stands by the door to listen for a minute anyway and when she hears their hushed voices speaking again, she smiles to herself and walk away from the door.

Emma sighs. “Rubes--”

“Okay, so hold on one sec. You keep interrupting me and now I think it’s my turn to talk. I’m sorry that I went behind your back and made that post. It was a terrible thing for me to do. I did it on a whim yesterday when I was on my lunch break and I actually thought about taking it down this morning. But then I got busy and didn’t really get a chance to.” Ruby says all of this quickly and in one breath just in case Emma tired to interject again. When there is no sign that Emma has anything to say, she takes another deep breath and starts again. “Then, when I went into the ad around four today so that I could delete it, I saw that someone had replied to it.” A hint of a smile forms at her lips as Ruby watches Emma’s expression change.

“Wait. What?” Emma says. “What do you mean someone replied to it?” She asks, still in utter disbelief of what she has just heard.

“Not just someone, Em. I think it’s her.” Ruby replies, and this time with a full, bright smile on her face.

“There’s no way.” Emma says with a shake of her head. “No way in hell that woman I danced with actually saw the post, let alone responded to it.”

Ruby takes her cellphone out of her apron pocket and and starts tapping at it until she finds the message in her email inbox. Then she hands Emma the phone. “Here. See for yourself.”

Emma hesitates for a moment and just stares at the phone. Then back up at Ruby and when her friend nods towards the phone again, urging her to grab it, she finally does. She taps the screen again as it has already started to dim and when it lightens, she can see that it is an email from Craigslist with a response to the posted ad. She scrolls a bit further down and when she is able to see the message, she reads it out loud. “The bartender accidentally spilled a drink on me that night and I definitely spent some time in the restroom cleaning it up. Unfortunately, I don’t remember anyone that I encountered in the restroom because I was very focused on making sure my sweater could be salvaged and the lighting in there is horrible. I danced with a couple of people that evening but only one of them was wearing a dark dress. I’m pretty certain that if you are who I am hoping you are, I would really like to see you again as well. But, tell me something, what is another fact that you can give me that might help me distinguish you from everyone else that I can hardly remember from that evening?” Emma looks up to see Ruby, eyes wide and with a brilliant smile still plastered on her face.

“It’s her, Ems. It’s gotta be!” Ruby says.

“I can’t believe this…” Emma says, still a bit dazed from what she just read. “Is this even real right now?”

Ruby chuckles. “Babe, it seems super real to me. Here…” Ruby takes the notepad from her apron pocket and scribbles down a few things, rips the sheet of paper off of its binding, and hands it to Emma. “This is the login and password for the Craigslist account I created to do the post. You should reply to her.”

Emma absentmindedly takes the note from Ruby but is still completely floored by what has just happened. _This is insane! How is this even happening right now?_

“Emma!” Ruby shouts finally when Emma does not respond to her first few attempts at trying to get her attention. The blonde’s mind has obviously completely drifted off elsewhere. “You need to reply to this now! Do it before the dinner rush starts.” She emphasizes by poking at the sheet of paper that Emma now has scrunched up in her hand.

Emma nods at Ruby at last, and pulls out her phone so that she write a message to the person that has responded to the ad. She signs into Ruby’s Craigslist account and reads over the response a couple more times before she begins typing out her reply.

_“I am pleasantly surprised to hear from you and if I am to be honest, quite nervous and excited at the same time. I didn’t get much interaction with you besides our dance and this is going to sound lame, but I was so captivated by you at the time that I don’t even remember any of the songs that we danced to. I guess the one thing I do remember is that after the restroom, you sat at the bar and chatted with Mandy (the bartender) for awhile. Then someone else asked you to dance and when you walked onto the dance floor was when I saw you again. I was too shy to ask you to dance, so it was one of my best friends that eventually walked over to you and asked you for me. She is a tall and beautiful brunette. Does that help at all?”_

Emma reads over it a few times and hits send. Then she takes a deep breath, gets up and puts her phone into her back pocket, and walks into the kitchen to get a bowl of soup. As she and Ruby are finishing up their snack, Ruby’s phone vibrates loudly in her pocket so she pulls it out to check the notifications.

“Oh my god! She replied again!” Ruby says excitedly. “Check your inbox again! I’ll take this to the back for you.” She adds as she grabs Emma’s empty dishes and silverware and heads back into the kitchen. She returns quickly and sits down next to Emma again hoping that her friend will fill her in on what is happening. Technically, she could have just read it on her own from the email that she has received but she has a feeling that she is not quite out of the doghouse with her best friend yet and should not push her luck. “So, what did she say? Actually, how did you reply to her response?” Emma finds it quickly on her phone and hands it to her so that she could read what she had written. Ruby reads it and smiles. “Aww… Tall and beautiful? You’re the sweetest Ems.” She says before giving Emma’s phone back to her so that she can read the new message.

Emma scrolls and finds where the new message begins and she reads it so that Ruby can hear it as well. “Nervous in a good way, I hope? I’m glad that your ‘tall and beautiful’ friend walked over and asked me for a dance because I don’t think that I would have seen you in the bar otherwise. That’s not to say that you aren’t noticeable because I do believe that I was just as captivated by you as you say that you were with me, by the end of our dance, but because I was only at Neptune that night to grab a quick drink before meeting with my friends, I spent most of my time there with my head down. I am usually pretty oblivious to my surroundings if I don’t have to pay attention. My name is Regina, by the way. I don’t believe that I am able to leave you any contact information, but if you would like, we can chat through email or text message if you leave me yours.” By the end of the message, Emma is smiling ear to ear. She looks up from her screen to see Ruby is doing the same. “Regina.” She says again. “That’s really pretty, huh?” She asks Ruby.

Ruby rolls her eyes and chuckles at her friend. “I think that she could have told you her name was Ted and you’d still be just as gaga over it. So, I really hope that this means that I’m off the hook and you’re not mad at me anymore?” She adds with a hopeful, toothy smile.

Emma squints her eyes at Ruby and considers this for a moment. “Okay, fine. You got super lucky this time! If you ever do something like this again though, I’m going to be mad at you forever, Ruby Lucas.”

“YES!” Ruby shouts and leans over to hug Emma tightly. “Now, hurry up and give that pretty lady your phone number so that I can delete all that Craigslist shit off of my phone. It’s been sending me all sorts of weird ads and emails.”

Emma laughs. “Serves you right.” Then she is on her phone again, hits the reply button on the page, and types her phone number with a smiley face emoticon before sending it off. Within a few seconds, she received text message from a unsaved phone number.

REGINA: _Hello. I still don’t know your name, by the way. But, this is Regina._

Emma smiles and replies immediately. _UGH. I’m so sorry! I’m Emma. It’s very nice to meet you, Regina._

REGINA: _Likewise, Emma. So, I’m pretty much dying to know--how often to you post on the Missed Connections page?_

EMMA: _I was worried that you might ask me that._

REGINA: _Well?_

EMMA: _Would you believe me if I told you that this was my first time?_

REGINA: _That seems a bit of a stretch but I’m not accustomed to calling someone I hardly know a liar._

EMMA: _To be completely honest, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe me. But also, truthfully, I have never posted on Missed Connections, EVER._

REGINA: _Alright? Now I’m really confused._

EMMA: _LOL. It was actually Ruby (the tall and beautiful brunette) who made that post. She will need to thank you for replying to it because right before she told me that you did, she was just about to become my ex best friend._

EMMA: _So, do you go looking for your missed connections on the internet a lot? ;)_

REGINA: _Touché. Would you believe ME if I told you that it was my best friend who found the post and told me about it?_

EMMA: _LOL After today, I’m a bit more inclined to believe a lot of things that I didn’t believe before._

REGINA: _So, you’re telling me that I now owe Ruby my gratitude for not only the chance to dance with you, but also for actively seeking me out after the fact? I’m glad to hear that you’re keeping her around because I will need to shake her hand and thank her at some point._

Emma laughs out loud at Regina’s last message. She looks up at the clock then and sees that it is getting closer to time for her to start her shift. But, before she does, she types out one last message. _You’ll have to forgive me because I’ll have to keep your gratitude to myself. If I tell Ruby what you’ve just told me, I will never be able to live it down. Also, I’m about to start my shift and I usually put away my phone so I’m not distracted by it. Is there any chance that you will still be up around 10pm? We can continue this chat when I’m on my way home…_ She gives it a moment for Regina to reply. It take less than thirty seconds before her phone chimes with a new notification.

REGINA: _I’m usually asleep by that time. BUT, I suppose that I can make an exception for just one night. ;)_

Emma thinks about replying but she knows that she will never want to put away her phone if she does not do it now, so she stifles a very happy giggle and puts her phone back into her bag. Then she locks it up in the cabinet beneath the cash register and forces herself down from the clouds and back to work. And right as she does, the bell on the door rings loudly as a group of teenagers pile in. Still on a high from her text conversation with Regina, Emma smiles broadly at them. “Hey guys, welcome in. Go ahead and seat yourselves and I’ll bring some waters over.” She watches as they all do as they are told before she turns to the back counter to fill several glasses with ice and water.

* * *

 

Regina is just finishing up her nightly beauty routine when she hears her phone ringing. Her heart starts racing but she quickly realizes that it is likely her best friend calling and not the beautiful blonde she has been thinking about all evening long. She walks over to where her phone is on the nightstand, and looks down to see that she is right. She thinks about ignoring the call but eventually answers it anyway. “Hey, Kat.”

“Hi.” Kat says with a smile. “So? Have you heard anything back?” After a lot of coaxing, she was finally able to convince Regina to reply to the Craigslist ad. She figured that the mystery girl would reply to Regina’s response immediately, but had not heard from her friend all day. Normally, she would not be calling this late but it took longer than she would have liked to get Ashton and Leila to bed. “I haven’t heard from you all day and I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad thing.” She adds.

“Oh, yes. She did reply to my message.” Regina says nonchalantly, not really wanting to reveal how excited she really is.

“SHE DID?! Oh my god. Did you respond back?” Kathryn asks, pushing for more information. “I can’t believe that you didn’t even text me or anything when you heard back from her.”

“Kat, you guys were at Ash’s soccer game tonight. You know how much I hate to interrupt you guys on his game nights.” And this is the truth. Ashton, her godson, is getting quite good at the sport and has even made the middle school varsity team at just eleven years old. Kathryn, Leila, and Fred never miss any of his games. Every once in a while, Regina would tag along but she would much rather her best friend get in as much of the happy family time that she very much deserves. “And anyway, it was just a few emails back and forth. We ended up exchanging phone numbers. Or, rather, she gave me hers, and we started texting each other. But then, she had to go to work, so the messaging has stopped.”

Kathryn laughs. “I love how you’re so blasé about it like it’s no big deal.”

“What, why? I mean, it’s not a big deal.” Regina replies.

“Regina, it is kind of a big deal.” Kathryn argues. “You haven't really talked to anyone interesting since you and Dani split up.

Regina sighs. “I talk to plenty of interesting people. But that's not what you're really referring to, is it? What you mean to say is that I haven't been interested in anyone since Dani and I split.”

“That’s the same thing.” Kathryn says dryly. “Anyway, you brat, what did you guys text each other about? She asks with a curious grin.

Regina knows that Kathryn is only trying to be supportive but she cannot help but feel pressured and it both frustrates and irritates her. “You know what? This whole thing with talking to a random stranger from the internet would work a lot better for me if I didn’t have you breathing down neck about every little thing. What is with the third degree? Can I please just get to know her first and then tell you all about it once I’m feeling more comfortable about it?” She says in a huff. She does not mean to but she knows that she may have been too harsh on her friend.

“Fine. Geez, I just got excited for my best friend. You don’t have to rip my head off for that.” Kathryn says, all the excitement from earlier gone from her voice.

Regina sighs. “Kat, I’m sorry. I just… this is all new to me and I don’t know how to act or what to expect. We haven’t talked about much, I promise you. I think there might have been some flirting? But I have been out of the dating scene for so long, I can’t be sure what is going on. If and when anything develops from this, you will be the very first to know.”

Kathryn softens at this and sighs as well. “Oh, Honey, I know that this is probably all so daunting to you. I’m sorry that I’m pushing. I guess that I’m just really excited for you. For the last several years, all we’d  talked about is how unhappy you were in your relationship. I guess I had forgotten how nice it is to see you in a happy place again.”

Regina smiles sadly. “I suppose that it is pretty nice to be talking to me for once when I’m not bitching about how couples therapy went or telling you about a fight we had over absolutely nothing of significance.” She sighs again just thinking about those late night telephone calls when she’d hide in her study after Dani had fallen asleep. “I’m sorry that I snapped at you, Kat.”

“I know you are. And you’ll make it up to me by asking this woman out.” Kat says.

Regina laughs. “Right. We’ll see about that. And she’s the one that sought me out. Shouldn’t she be the one to ask?”

“God, you really haven’t done this for a long time. I don’t think it matters who asks, Hon. Just don’t let her think that you’re not really interested by waiting too long to say something.”

Just as Kathryn is finishing her statement, Regina hears a beep indicating a new notification. She pulls the phone away from her ear for a second to confirm and sees that she has a new message from Emma. She smiles and puts the phone back to her ear. “Hey, Kat, I have to go. Emma just texted me and I think that I should probably reply…”

“Ooh. Emma? Is that the woman? That’s a pretty name…” Kathryn says, grinning.

Regina rolls her eyes at her friend’s tone of voice. “Yes, Kat. Her name is Emma. Now, can I let you go and call tomorrow? I’ll tell you about it then.”

“Alright, alright. Go. But, you better call me tomorrow!”

“Yes, of course. Love you.” Regina says quickly and hangs up before Kathryn can even reply. Then she tucks herself into her bed, with her back against the headboard, and opens up her new message from Emma.

EMMA: _So, I made the mistake of telling Ruby what you told me and as I predicted, she won’t leave me alone about it. I really need to be better about going with my gut feeling when it comes to her. I know her too well. :) Anyway, did you have a good evening? I hope that I haven’t kept you up way past your normal bedtime._

Regina smiles at what Emma says about her friend Ruby. _Well, when I get the chance to meet Ruby, I’ll make sure to tell her not to be too hard on you. ;) My evening was uneventful and very relaxing, but I probably should go to sleep soon. I just wanted to make sure that I kept my word about staying up until you finished with work._

EMMA: _:(_

EMMA: _You didn’t have to stay up just because of that. I don’t want to be the reason that you don’t get enough sleep._

When Regina sees Emma’s response to her previous message, she frowns, and quickly responds back. _I wanted to stay up, Emma. I really don’t mind forfeiting a hour or two of my beauty sleep to chat._ She means it as a joke, of course, but Emma does not reply to her right away this time and it worries her. When she finally does receive a new message a minute or so later, she taps her screen to open it up right away.

EMMA: _You’re beautiful._

Emma’s very random and unexpected message makes Regina smile.

EMMA: _I mean, this practice of beauty sleep that you speak of is clearly working and I don’t want to screw that up for you._

Regina smiles more widely this time and shakes her head at Emma’s obvious attempt at flirting with her and she thinks that she should probably be bolder. _It does its job most of the time, but maybe you can share your beauty secrets with me, too? Whatever it is you’re doing seems to be working better._

EMMA: _Wow. That was some line._

REGINA: _I absolutely do not ever use these lines that you are speaking of. I’m only being honest._

EMMA: _I’m flattered, Regina. (And if you must know, I’m smiling like an idiot right now.)_

REGINA: _I had to return the favor somehow. I have had a smile on my face all evening._

Regina wonders if that was too blunt, or if she should have added that last statement at all, but she remembers what Kathryn is constantly reminding her and she thinks that maybe she can afford to wear her heart on her sleeve every once in a while.

EMMA: _I have, too, to be honest. It is pretty nice._

REGINA: _It IS nice. :) So, how was work? What is it that you do?_

EMMA: _I do a lot of things, actually. I have an office job and then I try to work nights and weekends as well. Tonight, I was at my job in a small diner on the south side. And it was alright, pretty busy so it went by quickly._

REGINA: _Goodness, that sounds like a lot._

EMMA: _It isn’t too bad. How about you? What do you do?_

REGINA: I am a landscape engineer. I design structures for both indoor and outdoor landscaping.

EMMA: _That sounds like it’s an interesting job!_

REGINA: _It is something that I enjoy doing. I consider myself really lucky to be in a field of work that can be both really dynamic and at the same time, it allows me to work with my artistic side._

EMMA: _So, you’re beautiful, artistic, smart, funny… I’m worried that I might not find anything wrong with you._

REGINA: _Are you specifically looking for any flaws in particular? I can have my mom and dad give you a call at some point. They will certainly change your mind about that pretty quickly._

EMMA: _At this point, you could tell me that you’re actually a man trying to catfish me and I’d probably still just nod and smile stupidly at you._

Regina laughs to herself at Emma’s comment and before she changes her mind, she types out her next message. _Are you busy this Sunday? Maybe you can let me take you out and that will give me a chance to prove that I’m not actually someone that is trying to catfish you?_

EMMA: _Man… I actually promised a friend that I’d help him at the fair all weekend. I will be bartending in his beer garden tent._

REGINA: _All weekend? You’ll be there on Saturday as well?_

EMMA: _ALL WEEKEND. Which is really crappy because I would much rather see you…_

REGINA: _I will be at the fair with my best friend and her kids on Saturday. Her eldest is my godson and I haven’t been able to see much of him lately so we thought that this would be a good way for us to hang out. Maybe I can stop by the beer garden and say hi._

EMMA: _!!! I would love that. If you’d like, I can actually get you guys all VIP wristbands. Then all of you can go backstage to meet some of the bands that are playing. The friend that I’m helping always has a bunch of them._

REGINA: _I don’t have any interest in meeting any bands but I’m sure my godson would love that. It would however, be very nice to see you again._

EMMA: _Yes, I really want to see you again, too! I was kinda dreading Saturday, but now I’m really excited. And maybe if I can get away from the tent for a bit, I can buy you a coffee or a beer?_

REGINA: _Or I can buy you one?_

EMMA: _:) We’ll see about that. Anyway, It is almost Midnight. I’ve kept you up way too late. I should let you sleep._

REGINA: _You’re right. You’ve kept me up way too late, so you should definitely let me buy on Saturday. You owe this to me._

EMMA: _HAHA. You’re sneaky, but it’s not going to work on me._

EMMA: _Good night, Regina. Sleep well._

Regina yawns and smiles lazily before typing out one last message to Emma. _Goodnight, Bella. Pleasant dreams._

* * *

Regina cannot remember the last time she was this nervous, and the closer she gets to the entrance of the beer garden, the more nervous she feels. She has been texting back and forth with Emma for the last few nights and it has been very nice to get to know the blonde. Even though they have not had very many deep conversations, they have all been very good ones. She shows her ID to the man at the entrance and he moves aside to let her walk into the tent. When she looks towards the bar area, she spots Emma right away. The tent is bustling with people, but there is no one in line, and she sees that the blonde is chatting with the other bartender. Regina watches as she laughs animatedly at something he is saying to her and it makes her stomach do a flip. She takes a breath to calm her nerves and walks over towards the bar.

“Stop being such a coward, and just ask her out on a date, Killian. I don’t know why you two fight it. You’re perfect for each other.” Emma says.

“I don’t know, Em. I mean, it would’ve happened already if it were meant to.” Killian says with a shrug of his shoulders. “Let’s talk about you. Why haven’t you asked Regina on a date? Hmm?”

Emma chuckles and rubs the back of her neck as she looks down at her feet. “I hate it when you do that.”

“What? I make you uncomfortable when I grill you about your love life? Or lack thereof. Hmm, that’s some concept, isn’t it?” Killian says with a smirk.

Emma reaches over and punches him in his shoulder which makes them both laugh. She stops when Killian’s expression changes to one of surprise. He nods towards the front bar counter as he grins at her and she turns to see Regina standing there looking back at her with a curious smirk. Emma widens her eyes in surprise and nearly chokes when her breathing hitches suddenly. “Oh! Hi, Regina! I mean, you are Regina, right?”

Regina laughs. “Yes. In the flesh. Cello, Emma. I didn’t mean to surprise you. Is this a bad time?”

Emma looks over at Killian who is just smiling back at her. When she looks back over at Regina, she sees that the woman is looking back at her, shy and unsure, and she immediately wants to reassure her. “Oh, no! Not at all. But, our other guy just left for a smoke break. As soon as he comes back, I’ll be free to hang out for a bit.” Then she turns towards Killian with a nervous smile. “Right? You’re okay with that, right?” She asks, more with her eyes than her words.

Killian chuckles. “Yeah, sure. It’s not like they are paying us to be here, Ems.” He smiles widely at his best friend before turning and reaching out his hand to Regina. “You must be Regina. You’re all Emma has been talking about lately--GEEZUS, OW!” He shouts as Emma pinches him hard on his arm.

“Killian is a good friend and up until a few seconds ago, he WAS my best friend.” Emma says to Regina after another quick glare in Killian’s direction.

Regina shoots both Emma and Killian an amused smile and nods. “It’s very nice to meet you, Killian. And Emma…” She adds just as a group of people walk up for their drinks. “I’ll just get out of your way until you can step away. I’ll be over there.” She gestures over to the far corner of the tent as she says this, and then winks at Emma before walking away.

Killian turns towards Emma to see her staring after Regina and he chuckles. “Ems! Hey, Emma!” When there is no sign that she can even hear him, he nudges her in the shoulder with his own.

“Huh? What?” Emma says shaking herself out of her trance.

Killian laughs again. “You're in so much trouble with this one.” He shakes his head playfully and then turns towards the people waiting to order and helps them.

Emma sighs and looks out into the crowd for Regina again. She finds her looking down at her phone with a smile on her face and Emma smiles, too. _Killian’s right. I'm in so much trouble._

* * *

It gets rather busy while Emma is waiting for the other bartender to come back to the tent and when she is finally able to step away, Regina is no longer standing in the corner where she was waiting just moments ago. Emma looks around the large covered area and when she finally spots Regina in the crowd again, she squeezes herself around all of the people until she is right behind the brunette. She takes a deep breath, gathers her courage, and taps the woman on the shoulder lightly. When Regina turns and sees her, she smiles sweetly. Emma feels her face get warm and waves awkwardly hoping that Regina does not notice the flush of red that she knows is spreading across her cheeks and down to her neck. “Hi.” Emma says at last, when she is able to find her voice again.

Regina's smile grows wider at the sight of Emma’s noticeable shyness. “Why, hello there. Are you finally able to break away for a bit?”

Emma cannot help but smile back at the woman in front of her. “Yes.” She manages as she nods her head. “I, um… I’m so sorry. It got busy just when you got here.” She adds as she rubs nervously at the back of her neck, the messy feel of her hair and damp, sticky skin making her feel even more self-conscious now.

“There's no need to apologize, Dear. You have already mentioned that you would be working for most of the day. And, I've just been answering some work emails and nosey text messages from my friend Kat, so I've been quite entertained.”

Emma nods again and just smiles at Regina. When the two of them are texting each other, she seems to have so much to say. But now that she is standing in front of the woman, she finds herself at a loss for words.

“Do you want to go for a walk around the fairgrounds? Or do you need to stay around here?” Regina asks when she senses that Emma may be a bit too anxious to initiate anything. She hopes that some one-on-one time will help put her at ease.

“Sure, I would like that a lot, actually. And no, I don't have to stick around. Killian is covering me.” Emma replies and she sticks her hands into her back jean pockets and rocks back and forth a couple times on her heels.

Regina chuckles at this and turns towards the entrance of the beer garden. She makes sure to walk slowly so that Emma can keep up with her and once they are both far enough away from the chatter of people, she speaks up again. “Do you work this event every year?”

“I have for the last few years. It started as me just helping a friend when his bartender called in sick. But they’ve asked me to come back every year since then. So, either they like my skills or they like the free labor.” Being away from the more condensed crowd of people in the beer garden makes it much easier for her to relax and she laughs comfortably.

“So, you don’t get compensated at all for your time?” Regina asks, remembering that Emma had mentioned that this she considered her time at the fair to be more volunteer work than another job.

“Well, I get to keep the tips.” Emma says with a smile. When she sees the inquisitive look on Regina’s face, she chuckles. “The man that I help out is like a father to me. Him and his buddies put all of this together to make a few extra bucks for the summer. They all have kids in summer camps and girl scouts, and all of that can get pretty expensive. I can’t help him out with that, so I like to donate my time when I can. I love it, honestly. It’s kind of a nice break from the other things that I do normally.”

“So, what is it that you do again? I know that you work at the diner part-time, but you mentioned that you have an office job as well? How do you even manage all of that?”

“I actually have one full-time job and two part-time jobs.” Emma confesses timidly. “I keep myself pretty busy.”

Regina’s eyes widen at this. “I’ll say that might be an understatement. You must have more hours in your day than I do.” She adds with a smile to lighten the mood.

Emma smiles. “I wish that I did.” Then she changes the subject so that she does not have to divulge more about her reasons for needing the busyness in her life. “So, you’re here with your best friend? The one that found Ruby’s ad on the internet?”

“That would be her.” Regina answers with a grin. “She is very eager to meet you and unfortunately, I don’t believe that I’ll be able to save you from it.” When she looks over at Emma, she sees a smile slowly form on the blonde’s face. This coupled with the joy in her eyes, which she notices look more green than she remembers, gives her a warm feeling inside. Something, she has to admit, she has not felt in a very long time.

“So, can I assume that is because you’ve talked to her about me?” Emma asks half-jokingly.

“Do you talk to Ruby about me? Like you do with Killian?” Regina asks, instead of answering Emma’s questions.

Emma laughs. “You do that a lot! You avoid questions with questions. And you’re so good at it.”

Regina laughs, too. “I’m sorry. I can’t help myself. I spend so much time dodging my family’s questions about my life, I honestly don’t even know when I do it anymore.”

Emma nods. “I guess I buy that. I consider myself pretty lucky that my parents never ask about my life at all.” They walk in silence for a moment until Emma speaks up once again. “I do talk to Ruby and Killian about you by the way. I don’t think that we’ve talked about much else since that night we first met you at Neptune.” She puts her hands in her pockets then and looks down at her feet as they continue walking, smiling fondly as she thinks about their encounter and her memory of it.

Regina feels her own face warm at Emma’s admission and she smiles, too. “Kat and I have talked about you as well. I haven’t elaborated on very much of the details so that is probably why she wants to meet you for herself. I should apologize in advance because she can be very aggressive and I don’t want her to scare you off.”

“Aww, that’s very sweet of you. But there’s no way in hell that she’s gonna scare me off.” Emma says with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. I learned a long time ago not to underestimate her.” Regina says. “Do you want to walk with me to where they are and say hi before you have to get back to work? I really don’t want to keep you away for too long.”

“Sure. That sounds good.” Emma says with a nod.

They walk to the other end of the fairgrounds, stopping only a few times so that Emma can take a look at some of items in the craft booths, until they reach a pizza and cheeseburger hut. Regina walks up to the table where her friend and the children are sitting and Ashton sees her first.

“Mom, Aunt Regina’s back.” Ashton says with a nudge of his head in Regina’s direction.

Kat turns around and is about to ask Regina how her unofficial first date went and smiles when she sees a pretty blonde woman standing beside her. “Oh, hello!” She says as she swings her leg over the bench she is sitting on so she can turn her entire body towards Emma and Regina. “You must be Emma.” She adds with a brilliant smile, extending her hand in greeting.

“That'd be me. And you must be Kathryn.” Emma says as she too extends her hand and takes ahold of Kathryn’s and giving it a firm shake.

“Emma, please, you can call me Kat. And this is Leila and Ashton. Guys, say hello to Emma. She's a friend of your Aunt Regina’s.”

After a few minutes of casual conversations Kathryn asks Emma to sit down with them until she has to be back at work. Emma, who really has her heart set on spending the little bit of free time she has with Regina, kindly declines. “I think that I should probably make my way back over to the tent. But, let's all of us hang out soon.” She says and waves her goodbyes and without even thinking about it, she reaches out and grabs Regina’s hand, linking their fingers together. “You don't mind walking me back over there, right?” Emma asks timidly, having finally realized she has grabbed Regina’s hand, but at the same time, that it feels too nice to let go of.

Regina looks down at their hands and then back up to see Emma looking at her nervously.  

Kathryn speaks before Regina can even form her thought. “Of course she doesn’t mind. Regina, go. The kids and I will finish up lunch here and then we’ll head over to the rides. You can text me when you have Emma safely back at work and we can meet back up.”

Regina smiles gratefully at her best friend. Still unable to find any words however, she turns back towards Emma and just nods with a smile.

Emma squeezes her hand and returns the smile. “It was very nice to meet you guys, I hope to see you real soon.” She says to Kathryn again as she waves goodbye.

“Oh, I’m sure you will.” Kathryn replies with a wink.

* * *

“Are you hungry or anything? We can stop and grab a bite.” Emma asks as they walk by the large groups of food vendors on their way back to the beer garden.

Regina thinks about this for a moment. She is surprised how comfortable this first meeting with Emma has been. They have not even spoken on the phone with each other before today, only text conversations, but it feels as though they have known each other for ages. Being with Emma feels unexpectedly very nice and she decides that she should welcome it. “I will if it means that I can spend more time with you.” She says finally, looking over at Emma fondly

Emma chuckles nervously, her heart suddenly racing. “We don't have to stop for food for us to spend time together. I don't really have plans to let go of your hand until I absolutely have to.” She says, giving Regina’s hand a light squeeze once again. “And I really wish that I wasn't working today because I'd really like to just whisk you away from this crowded place.”

Regina smiles. “Mmm, that sounds nice. We can always make plans for next week?” When she asks this, Emma’s smile grows wider.

“Okay.” Emma says as they approach the area where the beer tent is located. She looks over to see that the guys are extremely busy and immediately, she feels a pang of guilt for taking such a long break.

Regina looks over to the beer tent and frowns. “It looks like they really need your help over there. I'm sorry I kept you for so long.” She apologizes sincerely.

Emma frowns as well and sighs. “I think that you might be right.”

Regina reluctantly releases Emma’s hand and smiles sadly at the blonde. “Well…” She says hesitantly. “I should let you get back to work.”

Emma’s frown deepens as she reaches out for Regina once again. This time, she grabs both of her hands and takes them in hers. Before she can convince herself otherwise, she pulls Regina into her, wraps her arms around her waist, and hugs her tightly. She feels Regina relax into her after a second and the other woman's arms wrap around her as well.

They stay that way for a while and Emma is the one to eventually pull away even though she does not release her hold on Regina. She pulls herself back a bit and looks into the brunette’s deep brown eyes. “I'm very glad that I got to see you today.” She says, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I am, too.” Regina manages as she subconsciously lowers her eyes to Emma’s lips.

Emma smiles at this and when Regina’s eyes meet hers again, she stares into them, silently pleading for permission to lean in. When she sees the corners of Regina’s mouth turn up into a playful smile, she leans in slowly until their lips meet.

The kiss is sweet and too abrupt and when they are finally looking into each other’s eyes again, Regina is first to speak. “If you don't walk away now, I'm going to have some really bad separation issues.”

Emma laughs. “Alright, alright.” She releases her hold on Regina and takes a step back away from the woman. “I won't be finished until after ten tonight. Can I please call you on my way home?”

“You better.” Regina says teasingly.

Emma leans in once more kisses Regina lightly I the cheek. “I promise.” Then she slowly walks backwards towards the tent, her eyes never leaving Regina’s, until she nearly walks into a group of men that are also headed in the same direction as she is. She stumbles on her feet a moment and apologizes to the men who all seem to just shrug her away.

Regina laughs at Emma’s clumsiness and backs away herself as well. She finally just waves one last time and turns to walk back to Kathryn and the kids. And the entire way back, all she can think about is how excited she is for Emma’s phone call.

When Emma walks back behind the bar, she is still giddy with excitement. And before she gets back to work, she makes a mental note to give Ruby a big kiss when she sees her on Monday. This whole Missed Connections thing was not such a horrible idea after all.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Missed Connection [Fanart]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15811179) by [cesibear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cesibear/pseuds/cesibear)




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